Passive Determination of Pairing and Channel Parameters for Short-Range Wireless Communications

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods can support identifying pairings and channel parameters in short-range wireless communications such as bluetooth low energy interfaces. Radio frequency sensors may be positioned within an electromagnetic environment where a master wireless device and a slave wireless device share short-range wireless communications. Signals transmitted between the master wireless device and the slave wireless device can be received by the radio frequency sensors. Inter-arrival times for packets within the received signals may be identified. Statistics of the inter-arrival times can be analyzed to identify connection intervals between the master wireless device and the slave wireless device as well as back-to-back interval exchanged within the connection intervals. Packet header contents may be used to reconcile the estimated timing parameters and time slots. Pairings between the master wireless device and the slave wireless device may be identified and tracked along with communication channel parameters.

BACKGROUND

Short-range wireless data technologies are increasingly used to replacecables or wired interconnects between computers, peripherals, tablets,smartphones, stereos, and other electronic devices. Examples ofshort-range wireless technologies include Bluetooth, Wireless USB,Z-Wave, ZigBee, and other personal area network (PAN) solutions.

In certain short-range wireless technologies, such as classic Bluetooth,devices are paired to share a data connection. From the pairing, one ormore low-level address, such as MAC addresses, are exposed in thetransmitted packets. In more advanced, or more secure, short-rangewireless technologies, such as Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), devices areassociated but there may be no persisted identifier or low-levelinformation that is continuously exposed in the transmitted packets.This can complicate third-party analysis of the short-range wirelesscommunication channel.

There is a need in the art for passive determination of pairing andchannel parameters for short-range wireless communications to enableanalysis, localization, and characterization of associated communicationchannels. Such information further enables securing communications andinformation operations within a wireless environment at an enterprise orcampus level.

SUMMARY

In certain example embodiments described herein, methods and systems cansupport identifying pairings and channel parameters in short-rangewireless communications such as bluetooth low energy interfaces. Radiofrequency sensors may be positioned within an electromagneticenvironment where a master wireless device and a slave wireless deviceshare short-range wireless communications. Signals transmitted betweenthe master wireless device and the slave wireless device can be receivedby the radio frequency sensors. Inter-arrival times for packets withinthe received signals may be identified. Statistics of the inter-arrivaltimes can be analyzed to identify connection intervals between themaster wireless device and the slave wireless device as well asback-to-back interval exchanged within the connection intervals. Packetheader contents may be used to reconcile the estimated timing parametersand time slots. Pairings between the master wireless device and theslave wireless device may be identified and tracked along withcommunication channel parameters.

These and other aspects, objects, features, and advantages of theexample embodiments will become apparent to those having ordinary skillin the art upon consideration of the following detailed description ofillustrated example embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram depicting a sensor analysis system with packetexchange timing in accordance with one or more embodiments presentedherein.

FIG. 2 is a histogram plot illustrating short-range wireless packetinter-arrival time statistics in accordance with one or more embodimentspresented herein.

FIG. 3 is a time series plot illustrating short-range wireless packetarrival times in accordance with one or more embodiments presentedherein.

FIG. 4 is a block flow diagram depicting a method for passivedetermination of pairing and channel parameters within short-rangewireless communications in accordance with one or more embodimentspresented herein.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram depicting a computing machine and a module inaccordance with one or more embodiments presented herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS Overview

The methods and systems described herein enable passive determination ofpairing and channel parameters within short-range wirelesscommunications. One or more radio sensors can collect radio signalsassociated with short-range wireless technologies such as Bluetooth,BLE, Wireless USB, Z-Wave, ZigBee, other personal area network (PAN), orany other wireless communication solutions. It should be appreciatedthat while certain details and examples presented herein referencesort-range wireless protocols such as Bluetooth, the present inventivetechnology may be applied to other wireless communication techniques,such as LoRa, long-rage IoT, or similar wireless communicationmodalities without departing from the spirit or scope of thisdisclosure.

From the radio signals, packet arrival timing and arrival timestatistics can be analyzed. The packets make up the data communicationsbetween master devices and slave devices. The master and slave devicescan exchange data packets at regular intervals, called connectionintervals. One or more packets may be exchanged between the master andslaves devices within each connection interval. In general, the timebetween detecting transmitted packets may be referred to use the interarrival time (IAT). Specifically, the time between packets may bereferred to as the inter-frame space (IFS). The connection interval may,in general, be much greater than the IFS, since several packets may beexchanged within one connection interval.

Statistical analysis of packet arrival times can determine which masterand slave devices are paired together and even what their channelparameter settings are. This analysis may be carried out even whiledetecting packets transmitted from only one side of the conversation(for example, only the master side or only the slave side).

Data from the radio frequency channels can be collecting. Timing detailscan be statistically analyzed (for example using histograms) to identifycandidate interval period and real round-trip time for packet exchanged.Analysis of the extracted parameters can identify connection intervalsand determine which pairs of devices participate in the associated timeslots. These determinations can support short-range wirelessclassification and localization.

The functionality of the various example embodiments will be explainedin more detail in the following description, read in conjunction withthe figures illustrating the program flow. Turning now to the drawings,in which like numerals indicate like (but not necessarily identical)elements throughout the figures, example embodiments are described indetail.

Example System Architectures

FIG. 1 is a block diagram depicting a sensor analysis system with packetexchange timing in accordance with one or more embodiments presentedherein. Wireless radio frequency sensors 110A-110B can collect, digest,analyze, and relay radio frequency signals comprising short-rangewireless communications 140 between wireless master devices 120 andwireless slave devices 130. The short-range wireless communications 140can comprise master transmissions 140A from the wireless master device120 to the wireless slave device 130 as well as slave transmissions 140Bfrom the wireless slave device 130 to the wireless master device 120.The short-range wireless communications 140 can comprise short-rangewireless technologies such as Bluetooth, BLE, Wireless USB, Z-Wave,ZigBee, or other personal area network (PAN) solutions.

A wireless master device 120 and a wireless slave devices 130 canconnect and exchange data packets at regular connection intervals 150.Within each connection interval 150, the wireless master device 120 andthe wireless slave devices 130 may exchange multiple packets. A pair ofback-to-back packets can be exchanged within a back-to-back interval155. The back-to-back interval 155 is smaller than the connectioninterval 150 since multiple back-to-back packet exchanges can occurwithin each connection interval 150. For example, the illustrated timingdiagram shows an exchange of two packets (one pair of packets) in afirst connection interval 150 and then six packets (three pairs ofpackets) in a second connection interval 150. In an example BLEconnection, the connection interval 150 may be between 7.5 millisecondand four seconds with a step size of 1.25 milliseconds. When there is nodata to exchange, zero-byte data packets may be exchanged, whichgenerates the shortest back-to-back packet exchange interval 155.

Examples of wireless master devices 120 may include microcomputers,smartphones, tablets, computers, hot spots, embedded computing devices,wireless infrastructure, or various other computing machines. Examplesof the wireless slave device 130 may include any devices wirelesslylinked to the wireless master devices 120 such as peripherals, mice,keyboards, printers, mobile devices, speakers, headsets, wearabledevices, access control systems, sensors, safety devices, physicalsecurity components, access control, HVAC controls, buildinginfrastructure, communication devices, and so forth. One or multiplewireless master devices 120 may communicate with one or multiplewireless slave device 130 in various combinations. For example, usingBluetooth, one wireless master device 120 may generally communicate withup to seven wireless slave devices 130, although far more connectionsmay be parked for future use.

The sensors 110A-110B may be referred to, in general or collectively, assensors 110 or a sensor 110. The sensors 110 may collect electromagneticsignals from one or more antennas over a wide bandwidth of radiofrequencies. The sensors 110 may utilize hardware-defined radioreceivers or software-defined radio receivers. According to variousembodiments, these radio receivers can convert received radio frequencyenergy into digital signals. These digital signals can then be decodedinto encoded data streams and processed according to varioustechnologies presented herein. The signal data collected by the sensors110 may be transmitted to the pairing analysis system 170 forprocessing. These signals or related signal data may be communicated ina continuous fashion or in one or more batches, at particular intervalsaccording to various embodiments.

While hardware-defined radio receivers can be cost-effective and lesscomplex to implement, they may be limited as to what type of encodeddata streams they can detect from the electromagnetic environment. Forexample, a hardware Bluetooth receiver module or chipset is generallynot able to also receive Wi-Fi radio signals. In contrast,software-defined radio receivers can much more flexibly receive anddecode various data streams within the electromagnetic environment undersoftware control. Software-defined radio receivers can support analyzingwide bands of radio spectrum, which can be useful in short-rangewireless technologies such as Bluetooth were pseudorandom hoping over 79channels can make the monitoring of radio channels quite a challenge.Similarly, software-defined radio receivers can support a diversevariety of data rates, modulation schemes, and control protocols thatmay be used in short-range wireless technologies such as Bluetooth.

The pairing analysis system 170 can receive and process signals from thesensors 110. One or more pairing analysis modules 175 may supportoperation of the pairing analysis system 170. The pairing analysissystem 170 may perform, among other functions, receiving packets,aggregating packets, associating packets, master/slave identification,determining packet lengths, calculating aggregated data transfer for awireless connection, evaluating packet utilization for a wirelessconnection, classifying wireless connection types, assessing threatcharacteristics for a wireless connection, characterization of wirelessdevice users, localization of wireless devices, and various other typesof signal processing and analysis.

The console 180 and various associated operator interfaces can supportconfiguring, controlling, or reviewing analysis results associated withthe pairing analysis system 170. The console 180 can providevisualization features for use by system or security administrators tomonitor the electromagnetic environment for wireless security usage andsecurity threats. Such visualizations may include displays about thearea under observation including device type, device position, estimatesof the data throughput being transmitted by devices, attack types beingperpetrated, victim devices, and so forth. The operator interfaces maycomprise interfaces associated with one or more visualization consoles180, one or more administrative user interface applications, or variousother user or system interfaces associated with the technology presentedherein.

The console 180 can provide a user interface for security personnel orsystem administrators to obtain visibility into operations of thepairing analysis system 170 and determinations about the variouswireless master device 120 and wireless slave device 130 engaging inshort-range wireless communications 140 based upon analysis of theelectromagnetic environment. The pairing analysis system 170 maylocalize, monitor, record, and playback the position and activity of thevarious short-range wireless devices 120, 130 including suspected rogue,unauthorized, or malicious devices. A system administrator, or otheruser, may use the console 180 to discover, localize, and otherwiseanalyze a malicious short-range wireless devices 120, 130 operatingwithin an enterprise or other facility. The administrator may beprovided with a visualization of the position of the short-rangewireless devices 120, 130 in the environment. The visualization mayinclude metadata for each of the short-range wireless devices 120, 130.For each given short-range wireless devices 120, 130, the metadata mayinclude physical layer specifications such as modulation, protocols,master/slave status, traffic classification, symbol rates, bandwidths,or frequencies; a likelihood metric that the device is rogue,unauthorized, or malicious; a type of attack, if any, being employed bythe device; and other short-range wireless devices 120, 130 that theparticular device is likely to be communicating with.

The networks 160 may interconnect some or all of the sensors 110, thepairing analysis system 170, and the console 180. Portions of thenetworks 160 connecting the sensors 110 may be configured to transmitradio frequency signals and/or digital information. Radio frequencysignals may be communicated as collected, down-converted using anintermediate frequency oscillator, or down-converted to baseband.Communication links associated with the networks 160 may use variousphysical media such as twisted pair, coaxial cable, or fiber opticcables. The signals transferred on the physical media may be analog RF,radio over fiber, digital, packetized, switched, connection-oriented, orany combination thereof. According to various embodiments, thecommunication links associated with the networks 160 may use wirelessfrequencies or transmission paths that are selected to avoidinterference from or to the electromagnetic environment in use by theshort-range wireless devices 120, 130.

The pairing analysis system 170 can support passive determination ofpairing and channel parameters within the short-range wirelesscommunications 140. The pairing analysis system 170 can receiveshort-range wireless radio frequency signals and use the signals toanalyze packet arrival timing and arrival time statistics. For example,the pairing analysis system 170 can histogram back-to-back interval 155to compute a candidate inter-arrival time. By expanding the back-to-backtime scale, the pairing analysis system 170 can identify connectioninterval 150. A histogram analysis of connection intervals 150 may beused to identify packet exchange time slots. The time slots can bereconciled with packet header details in order to fully characterizepairings and connection parameters within the short-range wirelesscommunications 140. The wireless connections and their pairing can betracked over time and operations of the pairing analysis system 170 cansupport short-range wireless classification and localization.

Tracking can detect when connection parameters are changed. Thedetection and analysis may then be restarted to mitigate tracking loss.In such instances, one or more packets may not be received (out ofrange, below noise floor, etc.) or packets may be encrypted.

Tracking and analysis may provide information on connection intervalanomalies. For example, the pairing analysis system 170 can determinewhen certain connections may not use the typical connection interval 150in multiples of 1.25 millisecond steps.

Packet length may be used to adjust offset in back-to-back interval 155in packets with more than zero data length. This adjustment may help toensure that frame arrivals still fall within an expected time slot.

The pairing analysis system 170 can adjust back-to-back intervals 155and connection interval 150 in a tracking loop for long-livedconnections. This adjustment can help to correct for clock drift.

The pairing analysis system 170 can maintain timing heuristics (such asknown back-to-back intervals 155 and/or connection intervals 150) toreduce start-up latency.

The pairing analysis system 170 can establish and maintain tracking infrequency hopping scenarios.

The pairing analysis system 170 can leverage multiple sensors as bothhalves of an operating frequency band to decode connection requests andseed localization sensors with connection parameters.

The wireless master devices 120, wireless slave devices 130, sensors110, pairing analysis system 170, console 180, or any other systemsassociated with the technology presented herein may be any type ofcomputing machine such as, but not limited to, those discussed in moredetail with respect to FIG. 5. Furthermore, any modules associated withany of these computing machines, such as the pairing analysis module175, or any other modules (scripts, web content, software, firmware, orhardware) associated with the technology presented herein may by any ofthe modules discussed in more detail with respect to FIG. 5. The devicesand computing machines discussed herein may communicate with one anotheras well as other computer machines or communication systems over one ormore networks such as network 160. The network 160 may include any typeof data or communications links or network technology including any ofthe network technology discussed with respect to FIG. 5.

FIG. 2 is a histogram plot illustrating short-range wireless packetinter-arrival time statistics in accordance with one or more embodimentspresented herein. The horizontal axis shows packet inter-arrival timebins in nanoseconds. The vertical axis shows quantities of analyzedpackets falling into each histogram bin. Back-to-back inter-arrivaltimes can be analyzed from such a histogram. The sharpness of thehistogram illustrates how the inter-arrival times are fairly consistent.However, close analysis can identify some variation in the inter-arrivaltimes.

FIG. 3 is a time series plot illustrating short-range wireless packetarrival times in accordance with one or more embodiments presentedherein. The horizontal axis shows time in seconds. The vertical axisshows inter-arrival time in seconds. From the horizontal groupings,back-to-back connection intervals 155 can be identified.

Example Processes

According to methods and blocks described in the embodiments presentedherein, and, in alternative embodiments, certain blocks can be performedin a different order, in parallel with one another, omitted entirely,and/or combined between different example methods, and/or certainadditional blocks can be performed, without departing from the scope andspirit of the invention. Accordingly, such alternative embodiments areincluded in the invention described herein.

FIG. 4 is a block flow diagram depicting a method 400 for passivedetermination of pairing and channel parameters within short-rangewireless communications in accordance with one or more embodimentspresented herein. In block 410, one or more radio frequency sensors 110may collect radio frequency signals associated with short-range wirelesscommunications 140. While the techniques presented herein may be appliedto signals collected by one radio frequency sensor 110, multiplespatially distributed sensors 110 can improve results. Enough radiofrequency data can be collected for analysis. For example N frames or Mseconds worth may be specified as a minimum collection.

Frames may be captured specifically within channels that are in adesired passband. For example, signals outside the passband may be fromstrong frame signals that are aliased within the channelizer associatedwith the sensor 110 and these may be disregarded.

Data with outlier timestamps may be dropped. For example, erroneousframes may be assigned a zero or negative inter-arrival time. Similarly,the inter-arrival time may appear too small to be valid given within theprotocol specification and/or its PHY/MAC parameters. These frames maybe dropped to avoid corrupting statistical analysis of frame timing.

In certain example protocols, such as BLE, devices may initially use anadvertising channel until a connection is established. Collectingsignals from advertising channels can inform connection pairings as theyare created. Otherwise, blind analysis may be used to identify pairings.For example, in BLE, connections can use a randomly generated accessaddress once pairing is established and the access address can bedifficult to follow without having seen the initial connection request.However, the access address can be identified from examining emptypackets. Empty packets have a predictable form and the CRC can bereversed from the empty packet.

In block 420, the collected signals can be examined to analyze packetarrival timing. The connection interval 150 can be established betweenthe wireless master device 120 and the wireless slave device 130 at theconnection setup.

At a given connection interval 150, they wireless devices 120, 130 mayswap messages as pairs. During the message pair exchange, the wirelessmaster device 120 can transmit first and then the wireless slave device130 can transmit second. Observing the exchange in the acquired radiosignals, it can be verified that the back-to-back interval 155 betweenthe wireless master device 120 and the wireless slave device 130 is lessthan the specified maximum roundtrip period. In certain BLE examples,the roundtrip period may be 300 microseconds.

If the time before a subsequent packet exceeds the minimum idle period,it may be established that a new connection is beginning and theinter-arrival time in question is approximately a connection period 150and not the smaller back-to-back interval 155. In certain examples, suchas BLE, the minimum idle period may be approximately ten milliseconds.

This analysis may be limited to situations where both sides of thecommunication can be sampled to obtain signals transmitted by both thewireless master device 120 as well as the wireless slave device 130. Itmay also be necessary to know (or be able to guess) ranges of packettiming parameters. Unfortunately, BLE and similar example protocols maybe able to set the packet timing parameters to arbitrary values. Incertain embodiments, packet timing parameters may be dynamicallyrenegotiated at runtime.

In block 430, the collected signals can be examined to analyze packetarrival time statistics in further detail. For example, back-to-backinterval 155 statistics may be narrowed down within connection intervals150. Such broader statistical approach can be leveraged to overcomelimitations of a first-level timing analysis approach such as discussedwith respect to block 420. For example, this more involved statisticalanalysis can evaluate connections when only one side of the exchange iscaptured or when timing parameters are unknown.

Connections can be tracked based on their access addresses. Timingbetween packet events can be collected and statistically analyzed.Regular repeating intervals can be identified. These may be the smaller“round trip” packet time of a back-to-back interval 155 as well as thelonger time-scale connection interval 150. Statistically accumulatedconnection intervals 150 may measure as being shorted than the actualperiod since they may contain on or more back-to-back intervals 155within the spacing.

In certain BLE examples, the back-to-back interval 155 may be 150microseconds resulting in a round-trip period of 300 microseconds. Whena minimum connection interval 150 may be 1.25 milliseconds, the analysiscan limit consideration to event intervals less than one millisecond toignore connection interval 150 events and thus evaluate onlyback-to-back interval 155 event statistics.

In block 440, statistical distribution of back-to-back packet arrivalevents can be evaluated to compute a candidate inter-arrival time. Forexample, histogram analysis of back-to-back packet arrival events may beperformed. A central peak identified within the histogram analysis mayshow that the inter-arrival events are quite fairly consistent but withsome small range of variation. The average of those variations aroundthe peak may be used as a candidate average back-to-back interval 155.

In block 450, expanding the time scale of the back-to-back packetarrivals can allow patterns to identify a connection interval 150. Asdiscussed in associated with FIG. 3, time series analysis of short-rangewireless packet arrival times can reveal horizontal groupings ofconnection intervals 150 comprising one or more shorter back-to-backintervals 155.

In block 460, connection intervals can be analyzed to identify packetexchange time slots. Histogram analysis of inter-arrival times greaterthan one millisecond (likely connection intervals 150) can revealvariations introduced by packet loss at multiples of the back-to-backinterval 155.

Time slots can be calculated from the determined connection parameters.Observing multiple of the connection intervals 150, the time series canbe zoomed in to show multiples of the back-to-back intervals 155 aroundeach multiple of connection intervals 150.

Frames inter-arrival times can be matched into slots regardless ofconnection interval 150. From the time slots, it may be possible totrack packet loss and determine which of the wireless master device 120or the wireless slave device 130 are transmitting.

The calculated connection interval 150 candidate may be verified, or atleast refined, based upon this histogram analysis. The true connectioninterval 150 may be determined from the largest slot offset. Inscenarios of high packet loss, the slot may be multiples of the trueconnection interval 150. If the link quality is excellent, the slot maybe the true connection interval 150 minus one back-to-back interval 155for instances where no data is exchanged.

From estimating which slot a future packet falls into, it may bedetermine whether the packet is in an even or odd slot, and thus guessif the packet was transmitted by the wireless master device 120 or thewireless slave device 130.

Agreement between the longest (modulo reduced) connection interval 150and the shortest may be verified to confirm the true connection interval150

In block 470, time slots may be reconciled with packet header details.Flags within the packet headers, such as sequence number, expectedsequence number, more data flag, etc can be examined. These flags canindicate if the packets are in sequence. The sequence can validate theclassification of each transmitter as wireless master device 120 or thewireless slave device 130.

In block 480, wireless connections and pairings can be tracked overtime. Computed statistics can determine whether a successful track isestablished and maintained. Tracking all packets of a locked-onconnection can verify connection parameters and pairings between awireless master device 120 and a wireless slave device 130. If trackinglock is lost, the analysis may return to an earlier block.

In block 490, classification of short-range wireless connections may besupported. The classification may include localization of the wirelessmaster device 120 and/or the wireless slave device 130. Collecting,classifying, and verifying exchanged packets within the radio frequencysignals collected by the one or more sensors 110 can aid identifying theoperation of the wireless master device 120 and/or the wireless slavedevice 130 as well as establishing their locations. Computing suchadditional information can significantly improve communication securitywithin the associated enterprise or campus.

Example Systems

FIG. 5 depicts a computing machine 2000 and a module 2050 in accordancewith one or more embodiments presented herein. The computing machine2000 may correspond to any of the various computers, servers, mobiledevices, embedded systems, or computing systems presented herein. Themodule 2050 may comprise one or more hardware or software elementsconfigured to facilitate the computing machine 2000 in performing thevarious methods and processing functions presented herein. The computingmachine 2000 may include various internal or attached components such asa processor 2010, system bus 2020, system memory 2030, storage media2040, input/output interface 2060, and a network interface 2070 forcommunicating with a network 2080.

The computing machine 2000 may be implemented as a conventional computersystem, an embedded controller, a laptop, a server, a mobile device, asmartphone, a set-top box, a kiosk, a vehicular information system, onemore processors associated with a television, a customized machine, anyother hardware platform, or any combination or multiplicity thereof. Thecomputing machine 2000 may be a distributed system configured tofunction using multiple computing machines interconnected via a datanetwork or bus system.

The processor 2010 may be configured to execute code or instructions toperform the operations and functionality described herein, managerequest flow and address mappings, and to perform calculations andgenerate commands. The processor 2010 may be configured to monitor andcontrol the operation of the components in the computing machine 2000.The processor 2010 may be a general purpose processor, a processor core,a multiprocessor, a reconfigurable processor, a microcontroller, adigital signal processor (“DSP”), an application specific integratedcircuit (“ASIC”), a graphics processing unit (“GPU”), a fieldprogrammable gate array (“FPGA”), a programmable logic device (“PLD”), acontroller, a state machine, gated logic, discrete hardware components,any other processing unit, or any combination or multiplicity thereof.The processor 2010 may be a single processing unit, multiple processingunits, a single processing core, multiple processing cores, specialpurpose processing cores, co-processors, or any combination thereof.According to certain embodiments, the processor 2010 along with othercomponents of the computing machine 2000 may be a virtualized computingmachine executing within one or more other computing machines.

The system memory 2030 may include non-volatile memories such asread-only memory (“ROM”), programmable read-only memory (“PROM”),erasable programmable read-only memory (“EPROM”), flash memory, or anyother device capable of storing program instructions or data with orwithout applied power. The system memory 2030 also may include volatilememories, such as random access memory (“RAM”), static random accessmemory (“SRAM”), dynamic random access memory (“DRAM”), and synchronousdynamic random access memory (“SDRAM”). Other types of RAM also may beused to implement the system memory 2030. The system memory 2030 may beimplemented using a single memory module or multiple memory modules.While the system memory 2030 is depicted as being part of the computingmachine 2000, one skilled in the art will recognize that the systemmemory 2030 may be separate from the computing machine 2000 withoutdeparting from the scope of the subject technology. It should also beappreciated that the system memory 2030 may include, or operate inconjunction with, a non-volatile storage device such as the storagemedia 2040.

The storage media 2040 may include a hard disk, a floppy disk, a compactdisc read only memory (“CD-ROM”), a digital versatile disc (“DVD”), aBlu-ray disc, a magnetic tape, a flash memory, other non-volatile memorydevice, a solid sate drive (“SSD”), any magnetic storage device, anyoptical storage device, any electrical storage device, any semiconductorstorage device, any physical-based storage device, any other datastorage device, or any combination or multiplicity thereof. The storagemedia 2040 may store one or more operating systems, application programsand program modules such as module 2050, data, or any other information.The storage media 2040 may be part of, or connected to, the computingmachine 2000. The storage media 2040 may also be part of one or moreother computing machines that are in communication with the computingmachine 2000 such as servers, database servers, cloud storage, networkattached storage, and so forth.

The module 2050 may comprise one or more hardware or software elementsconfigured to facilitate the computing machine 2000 with performing thevarious methods and processing functions presented herein. The module2050 may include one or more sequences of instructions stored assoftware or firmware in association with the system memory 2030, thestorage media 2040, or both. The storage media 2040 may thereforerepresent examples of machine or computer readable media on whichinstructions or code may be stored for execution by the processor 2010.Machine or computer readable media may generally refer to any medium ormedia used to provide instructions to the processor 2010. Such machineor computer readable media associated with the module 2050 may comprisea computer software product. It should be appreciated that a computersoftware product comprising the module 2050 may also be associated withone or more processes or methods for delivering the module 2050 to thecomputing machine 2000 via the network 2080, any signal-bearing medium,or any other communication or delivery technology. The module 2050 mayalso comprise hardware circuits or information for configuring hardwarecircuits such as microcode or configuration information for an FPGA orother PLD.

The input/output (“I/O”) interface 2060 may be configured to couple toone or more external devices, to receive data from the one or moreexternal devices, and to send data to the one or more external devices.Such external devices along with the various internal devices may alsobe known as peripheral devices. The I/O interface 2060 may include bothelectrical and physical connections for operably coupling the variousperipheral devices to the computing machine 2000 or the processor 2010.The I/O interface 2060 may be configured to communicate data, addresses,and control signals between the peripheral devices, the computingmachine 2000, or the processor 2010. The I/O interface 2060 may beconfigured to implement any standard interface, such as small computersystem interface (“SCSI”), serial-attached SCSI (“SAS”), fiber channel,peripheral component interconnect (“PCP”), PCI express (PCIe), serialbus, parallel bus, advanced technology attachment (“ATA”), serial ATA(“SATA”), universal serial bus (“USB”), Thunderbolt, FireWire, variousvideo buses, and the like. The I/O interface 2060 may be configured toimplement only one interface or bus technology. Alternatively, the I/Ointerface 2060 may be configured to implement multiple interfaces or bustechnologies. The I/O interface 2060 may be configured as part of, allof, or to operate in conjunction with, the system bus 2020. The I/Ointerface 2060 may include one or more buffers for bufferingtransmissions between one or more external devices, internal devices,the computing machine 2000, or the processor 2010.

The I/O interface 2060 may couple the computing machine 2000 to variousinput devices including mice, touch-screens, scanners, biometricreaders, electronic digitizers, sensors, receivers, touchpads,trackballs, cameras, microphones, keyboards, any other pointing devices,or any combinations thereof. The I/O interface 2060 may couple thecomputing machine 2000 to various output devices including videodisplays, speakers, printers, projectors, tactile feedback devices,automation control, robotic components, actuators, motors, fans,solenoids, valves, pumps, transmitters, signal emitters, lights, and soforth.

The computing machine 2000 may operate in a networked environment usinglogical connections through the network interface 2070 to one or moreother systems or computing machines across the network 2080. The network2080 may include wide area networks (“WAN”), local area networks(“LAN”), intranets, the Internet, wireless access networks, wirednetworks, mobile networks, telephone networks, optical networks, orcombinations thereof. The network 2080 may be packet switched, circuitswitched, of any topology, and may use any communication protocol.Communication links within the network 2080 may involve various digitalor an analog communication media such as fiber optic cables, free-spaceoptics, waveguides, electrical conductors, wireless links, antennas,radio-frequency communications, and so forth.

The processor 2010 may be connected to the other elements of thecomputing machine 2000 or the various peripherals discussed hereinthrough the system bus 2020. It should be appreciated that the systembus 2020 may be within the processor 2010, outside the processor 2010,or both. According to some embodiments, any of the processor 2010, theother elements of the computing machine 2000, or the various peripheralsdiscussed herein may be integrated into a single device such as a systemon chip (“SOC”), system on package (“SOP”), or ASIC device.

In situations in which the systems discussed here collect personalinformation about users, or may make use of personal information, theusers may be provided with a opportunity to control whether programs orfeatures collect user information (e.g., information about a user'ssocial network, social actions or activities, profession, a user'spreferences, or a user's current location), or to control whether and/orhow to receive content from the content server that may be more relevantto the user. In addition, certain data may be treated in one or moreways before it is stored or used, so that personally identifiableinformation is removed. For example, a user's identity may be treated sothat no personally identifiable information can be determined for theuser, or a user's geographic location may be generalized where locationinformation is obtained (such as to a city, ZIP code, or state level),so that a particular location of a user cannot be determined. Thus, theuser may have control over how information is collected about the userand used by a content server.

One or more aspects of embodiments may comprise a computer program thatembodies the functions described and illustrated herein, wherein thecomputer program is implemented in a computer system that comprisesinstructions stored in a machine-readable medium and a processor thatexecutes the instructions. However, it should be apparent that therecould be many different ways of implementing embodiments in computerprogramming, and the invention should not be construed as limited to anyone set of computer program instructions. Further, a skilled programmerwould be able to write such a computer program to implement anembodiment of the disclosed invention based on the appended flow chartsand associated description in the application text. Therefore,disclosure of a particular set of program code instructions is notconsidered necessary for an adequate understanding of how to make anduse the invention. Further, those skilled in the art will appreciatethat one or more aspects of the invention described herein may beperformed by hardware, software, or a combination thereof, as may beembodied in one or more computing systems. Moreover, any reference to anact being performed by a computer should not be construed as beingperformed by a single computer as more than one computer may perform theact.

The example embodiments described herein can be used with computerhardware and software that perform the methods and processing functionsdescribed previously. The systems, methods, and procedures describedherein can be embodied in a programmable computer, computer-executablesoftware, or digital circuitry. The software can be stored oncomputer-readable media. For example, computer-readable media caninclude a floppy disk, RAM, ROM, hard disk, removable media, flashmemory, memory stick, optical media, magneto-optical media, CD-ROM, etc.Digital circuitry can include integrated circuits, gate arrays, buildingblock logic, field programmable gate arrays (“FPGA”), etc.

The example systems, methods, and acts described in the embodimentspresented previously are illustrative, and, in alternative embodiments,certain acts can be performed in a different order, in parallel with oneanother, omitted entirely, and/or combined between different exampleembodiments, and/or certain additional acts can be performed, withoutdeparting from the scope and spirit of embodiments of the invention.Accordingly, such alternative embodiments are included in the inventionsdescribed herein.

Although specific embodiments have been described above in detail, thedescription is merely for purposes of illustration. It should beappreciated, therefore, that many aspects described above are notintended as required or essential elements unless explicitly statedotherwise. Modifications of, and equivalent components or actscorresponding to, the disclosed aspects of the example embodiments, inaddition to those described above, can be made by a person of ordinaryskill in the art, having the benefit of the present disclosure, withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention defined in thefollowing claims, the scope of which is to be accorded the broadestinterpretation so as to encompass such modifications and equivalentstructures.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for identifying pairings and channelparameters in wireless communications, comprising: positioning one ormore radio frequency sensors within an electromagnetic environment wherea master wireless device and a slave wireless device share a wirelesscommunication interface; receiving, at the one or more radio frequencysensors, signals transmitted between the master wireless device and theslave wireless device; identify inter-arrival times for packets withinthe received signals; analyze statistics of the inter-arrival times toidentify connection intervals between the master wireless device and theslave wireless device; analyze statistics of the inter-arrival times toidentify back-to-back intervals associated with the packets, wherein theback-to-back intervals occur within the connection intervals; estimatecommunication time slots from the identified connection intervals andthe identified back-to-back intervals; evaluate contents of the packetsto reconcile the estimated communication time slots; track the wirelessconnections between the master wireless device and the slave wirelessdevice; and identify packets within the wireless connections as beingtransmitted by the master wireless device or the slave wireless device.2. The method of claim 1, wherein the wireless communications areassociated with a bluetooth low energy interface
 3. The method of claim1, wherein the wireless communications are associated with one of abluetooth interface, wireless USB interface, a ZigBee interface, and apersonal area network interface.
 4. The method of claim 1, whereinanalyzing statistics of the inter-arrival times comprises histogramanalysis.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising classifyingpairings between the master wireless device and the slave wirelessdevice.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising geolocating one ofthe master wireless device and the slave wireless device.
 7. The methodof claim 1, further comprising identifying security threats associatedwith the wireless connections.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein datapayload associated with the wireless connection remains encrypted. 9.The method of claim 1, wherein classifying one or more security threatsis carried out without decrypting encrypted data payloads associatedwith the wireless connection.
 10. The method of claim 1, whereinreceiving signals comprises leveraging software defined radio to supportvarious communication channel parameters.
 11. A system for identifyingpairings and channel parameters in wireless communications, comprising:one or more sensor antennas; one or more radio frequency sensorsconfigured to receive signals associated with a wireless communicationinterface between a master wireless device and a slave wireless device;and a signal analysis system comprising one or more processing units,and one or more processing modules configuring the one or moreprocessing units to: identify inter-arrival times for packets within thereceived signals; analyze statistics of the inter-arrival times toidentify connection intervals between the master wireless device and theslave wireless device; analyze statistics of the inter-arrival times toidentify back-to-back intervals associated with the packets, wherein theback-to-back intervals occur within the connection intervals; estimatecommunication time slots from the identified connection intervals andthe identified back-to-back intervals; evaluate contents of the packetsto reconcile the estimated communication time slots; track the wirelessconnections between the master wireless device and the slave wirelessdevice; identify pairings between the master wireless device and theslave wireless device within the wireless connections; and presentidentified pairings to an operator console.
 12. The system of claim 11,wherein the wireless communication interface comprises a bluetooth lowenergy interface.
 13. The system of claim 11, wherein the wirelesscommunication interface is one of a wireless USB interface, a ZigBeeinterface, and a personal area network interface.
 14. The system ofclaim 11, wherein analyzing statistics of the inter-arrival timescomprises histogram analysis.
 15. The system of claim 11, wherein theone or more processing units are further configured to classify channeltiming parameters between the master wireless device and the slavewireless device.
 16. The system of claim 11, wherein the one or moreprocessing units are further configured to geolocate one of the masterwireless device and the slave wireless device.
 17. The system of claim11, wherein data payload associated with the short-rage wirelessconnection remains encrypted.
 18. The system of claim 11, whereinclassifying one or more security threats is carried out withoutdecrypting encrypted data payloads associated with the wirelessconnection.
 19. The system of claim 11, wherein the one or more radiofrequency sensors comprise software defined radio receivers operable tosupport a variety of communication parameters.
 20. A system foridentifying pairings and channel parameters in wireless communications,comprising: one or more radio frequency sensors comprising antennas andsoftware-defined radio receivers; and a signal analysis systemcomprising one or more processing units, and one or more processingmodules configuring the one or more processing units to: identifyinter-arrival times for packets within radio signals received at the oneor more radio frequency sensors, wherein the radio signals areassociated with bluetooth communications between a master wirelessdevice and a slave wireless device; analyze statistics of theinter-arrival times to identify connection intervals between the masterwireless device and the slave wireless device; analyze statistics of theinter-arrival times to identify back-to-back intervals associated withthe packets, wherein the back-to-back intervals occur within theconnection intervals; reconcile the connection intervals using contentsof headers within the packets; track the wireless connections betweenthe master wireless device and the slave wireless device; and identify abluetooth pairing between the master wireless device and the slavewireless device.